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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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Philoponus: On Aristotle Physics 4.1-5

Philoponus: On Aristotle Physics 4.1-5

Ophuijsen, Johannes Van
Algra, Keimpe
Sorabji, Richard

Paperback

Series: Ancient Commentators on Aristotle

PhilosophyLiterary CriticismPhysics

ISBN10: 1472558006
ISBN13: 9781472558008
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Published: Apr 10 2014
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.51
Height: 0.34 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English

Aristotle's account of place, in which he defined a thing's place as the inner surface of its nearest immobile container, was supported by the Latin Middle Ages, even 1600 years after his death, though it had not convinced many ancient Greek philosophers. The sixth century commentator Philoponus took a more common-sense view. For him, place was an immobile three-dimensional extension, whose essence did not preclude its being empty, even if for other reasons it had always to be filled with body. However, Philoponus reserved his own definition for an excursus, already translated in this series, The Corollary on Place. In the text translated here he wanted instead to explain Aristotle's view to elementary students. The recent conjecture that he wished to attract young fellow Christians away from the official pagan professor of philosophy in Alexandria has the merit of explaining why he expounds Aristotle here, rather than attacking him. But he still puts the students through their paces, for example when discussing Aristotle's claim that place cannot be a body, or two bodies would coincide.

This volume contains an English translation of Philoponus' commentary, as well as a detailed introduction, extensive explanatory notes and a bibliography.

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